Speaking from a panel held at Cannes Film Festival, Cate Blanchett, actor, producer and global Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, together with International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund, unveiled Mohammed Amer, Annemarie Jacir, Akuol de Mabior, Bao Nguyen and Rithy Panh as the five recipient filmmakers for the second cycle of the Displacement Film Fund short film grant scheme.
The Fund, which is backed by a coalition of leading film industry experts, creators, business leaders and philanthropists, was established in 2025 to champion and fund the work of displaced filmmakers, or filmmakers with a proven track record in creating authentic storytelling about the experiences of displaced people.
Each of the nominated filmmakers will be bestowed with a production grant of €100,000, with their completed projects having their world premieres at IFFR 2027, running 28 January to 7 February.
The panel featured Blanchett alongside new grant recipients Amer, Jacir, de Mabior and Nguyen.
The discussion was moderated by IFFR’s managing director, Clare Stewart, and also addressed the evolution of the fund as it enters its second cycle, the recipient filmmakers and their projects, and wider industry actions in support of displaced filmmakers.
For the 2025 pilot edition of the Fund, Maryna Er Gorbach, Mo Harawe, Hasan Kattan, Mohammad Rasoulof and Shahrbanoo Sadat were each awarded with the production grants.
Their films (Rotation, Whispers of a Burning Scent, Allies in Exile, Sense of Water and Super Afghan Gym) had their world premieres at IFFR 2026 and were met with “sold-out audiences and widespread acclaim, including a five-star review by Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian”.
It was also announced in Cannes, where Japan is the Marché du Film’s 2026 Country of Honour, that the inaugural collection will screen at Tokyo International Film Festival in October.
Additionally, a theatrical screening run has been confirmed at New York’s Film Forum in the autumn, which will qualify them for Academy Award consideration.
The films will screen once again in Rotterdam as part of a special programme at Fenix and LantarenVenster marking World Refugee Day on 17 June.
Further festival selections and screenings are expected to be announced in coming months.
Full details of this year’s second round recipients are available on the IFFR website.
